2 Cor. 11:14 (LIT/UBS4) And (kai) [this, AE] [is] absolutely no (ou) amazement (thauma)!  

Because (gar) the (ho) Satan (Satanas) himself (autos) transforms himself (metaschēmatizetai) into (eis) [a] messenger (angelon) of light (phōtos)!

2 Cor. 11:15 (LIT/UBS4) Therefore (oun), [it, AE] [is] absolutely no (ou) great thing (mega) if (ei) the (hoi) ministers (diakonoi) also (kai) of him (autou) transform themselves (metaschēmatizontai) as (hōs) [being] ministers (diakonoi) of righteousness (dikaiosunēs);

the (to) completion (telos) of whom (hōn) shall cause itself to be (estai) down according to (kata) the (ta) works (erga) of them (autōn)!  

(For a believer in his discipleship to Christ Jesus being led to being stripped of the power of the holy Spirit through false teaching, see Mat. 15:9; John 8:31-47; Rom. 1:21-22; 2 Cor. 10:5-6; 11:13-15; Eph. 5:6-12; *Col. 2:8; 2 Tim. 3:1-15, 4:3-4; Tit. 1:10-14)

The devil and his little demon spirits, who want us all dead by the way, are constantly spewing out lies to confuse and contradict the Word which the God, our creator, sent to us to heal us and empower us to slip away out of the pit-falls, the ones which the devil and the little demon spirits set for us. I believe God's covenants cover us for the pit-falls we make for ourselves also.

The devil's greatest offensive scheme is not only to spew lies, but through the use of his little demon spirits living within cooperating mortal beings, they can appear to be religious leaders while spewing those lies.  The glorious outward appearances of their garments are designed to deceive people's eyes, which is why followers of Christ Jesus are commanded not to walk by our eyesight, but by the power of the gift of the God's holy Spirit within us.

2 Cor. 5:5 (LIT/UBS4) But (de) the one (ho) having caused himself to work us down (katergasamenos hēmas) into (eis) this (touto) same (auto) [heavenly habit, v2, RE] [is] God (theos), the one (ho) having given (dous) to us (hēmin) the (ton) assurance (arrabōna) of the (tou) Spirit (pneumatos).

2 Cor. 5:6 (LIT/UBS4) Therefore (oun), we are ones always being confident (pantote tharrountes), and (kai) ones having seen (eidotes) that (hoti) we are being among our company (endēmountes) in (en) the (tō) body (sōmati), we are out from our company (ekdēmoumen) [being] away from (apo) the (tou) Lord (kuriou).

2 Cor. 5:7 (LIT/UBS4) Because (gar) we walk around (peripatoumen) through (dia) belief (pisteos), absolutely not (ou) through (dia) sight (eidous)!

A follower of Christ Jesus must know and believe how mortalkind received God's Word, the purpose of God's Word, and the profit of knowing and believing God's Word, so that a follower of Christ Jesus can begin his growth in his discipleship to Christ Jesus.  And subsequently, that growth leads one into believing to receive a new birth above in the God's gift of his paternal holy Spirit; which is the power mortalkind needs to defeat the devil and his little demon spirits. 

Phil. 4:13 (LIT/UBS4) I am strong enough (ischuō) for all things (panta) [being] in (en) the one (tō) inherently empowering (endunamounti) me (me)! 

(For the Spirit of God being in Christ, and the Spirit of Christ being in those who believe upon his name, making them more than conquerors now, see Mat. 10:25; Acts 1:4-8; Rom. 8:9-11, 37; 1 Cor. 12:6; 2 Cor. 2:14, 13:3-5; Gal. 1:16; Eph. 1:19-20, 4:13, 6:13-18; Phil. 2:13, 4:13; Col. 1:27-29; 1 Thes. 2:13; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 John 4:4, 5:4-5)

If a follower of Christ Jesus believes these words, and please read these other scripture references I've shown, then you realize that the God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, and of us, is living in you, his new covenant holy place/temple, one not built with human hands, but with his own hand. 

This is all foundational to discipleship to Christ Jesus.  A disciple of Christ Jesus can't begin to learn without God's Spirit in him or her, teaching him or her.  And a disciple of Christ Jesus can't begin to grow with God's Spirit until the God begins teaching him or her.  A follower's spiritual growth begins with discipleship to Christ Jesus.  And, it never ends.

A follower of Christ Jesus who knows and understands how mortalkind received God's Word, and what is the purpose of God's Word, and what is the profitability of God's Word in our lives, has begun their discipleship to Christ Jesus.  Because the God must be teaching you these things, and on account of that you have repented in your heart to him about your sins, and you have confessed Christ Jesus as the one whose sacrifice of his broken body and shed blood excused you from the penalty of your sins.

When you have experienced God inside of you teaching you, then you begin to have confidence toward him in your life, then you begin to have confidence that the God's Word is truly his Word and not elaborate enigmatic constructions of mortalkind's wild imaginations.  The God declares that his Word is not a compendium of mortal-made philosophical conjugations, but much, much more!  It's the revelation of his will and heart's desire for his creation, us, so we can come to know and depend upon him as the supplier of all our our needs.

God is Spirit, a form of being which we with our five senses cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch, unless he desires to manifests himself to us in either of these five ways.  He is hidden to our five senses.  But never the less, he has reached out to us, because he so loved us that he allowed his firstborn son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die over the sake of the penalty of our sins.  He has taken the first step to reveal himself to us, the followers of Christ Jesus.  The second step is ours, to reach out to him.  The God reached out to you first.  Your engagement with him now depends upon you reaching out to him, based upon his new covenant guidelines.  Jesus said in Mat. 7:7, if you desire to know something, or you need something, ask, seek, and knock.  If you don't ask in prayer then you can't begin to receive any of the nine manifestations (1 Cor. 12) coming to pass in your life personally, just for you.

The way to reach out to the the God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, is to reach out to him through his firstborn son, Christ Jesus, the one he sent to you/us as his agent, to announce his heavenly Father to you/us/all mortalkind.  Search out the knowledge in the holy scriptures for everything you can learn about Christ Jesus, and he will lead you to his Father, the one true God almighty.  This is exactly how you are to reach out to God to find and experience him, through his son Christ Jesus.  Pray all prayers in the name of Jesus Christ, who is our mediator (1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 8:6, 9:15, 12:24) between the God, our heavenly Father, and us.

The orthodoxy of Jesus Christ which Jesus gave to all freely in his earthly ministry, will lead you directly to the God himself, Jesus' heavenly Father, who is in you if you have received a new birth above in his holy Spirit.  Jesus said that not one comes to the Father if not through him (John 14:6).  But Jesus said also that not one can come to him, Jesus, if the Father does not draw him to his son (John 6:44)!  This is a statement about the requirement of your repentance to the God.  Repent, and stay repentant.  If you repent to the God he will draw you to his son Christ Jesus to whom you shall begin your discipleship; under which discipleship he shall lead/shepherd you to your sonship with the one true God almighty (Rom. 10:9-10)! 

If you believe upon the name of Jesus, which phrase means the knowledge of Jesus and what he has done for you, for all mortalkind, by way of his death and resurrection, then Christ Jesus shall absolutely lead you, shall shepherd you, to his heavenly Father, the one true God almighty!  You being led to the "green pastures" comes later.  But the first stop to which you shall be shepherded is to Jesus' Father, to the God himself, and to his new covenant; in which you can begin a relationship with him based upon reciprocity.  Reciprocity means that if you keep your end of the new covenant requirements according to his Word, then the God almighty shall keep up his end of the new covenant with you according to his Word.  And then guess what happens, you shall be blessed, big time! 

Want to begin to experience the God in your life?  Learn these and believe them.

One's belief in God's Word must be built into one's own mind (Rom. 10:16-17).  You/we have to do it.  No one is going to build belief in God's Word into our minds for us!  This takes hard work on our part, the agony of the work has been compared to the pain of a mother going through the birthing process.  Are you up for the task?  If your own discipleship to Christ Jesus, and your subsequent new birth above in God's gift of his holy Spirit, which is your salvation/wholeness isn't worth it to you, you'll be the first to know!  Because you'll refuse to put in the work in learning God's Word, which learning is required to build your belief and renew your mind (Rom. 12:2); from the lies of the devil to the Truth of God's Word. 

As in mathematics where certain basic formulas and equations must be understood first, because they form foundational building blocks from which subsequent and more elaborate formulas and equations can be built to portray scientific/spiritual truths, these vital truths must be understood first for the same reasons, so that subsequent and more elaborate spiritual truths can be recognized and understood, and then believed as well. 

I.  How We Received God's Word

Heb. 1:1 The (ho) God (theos) long ago (palai) having spoken (lalēsas) many portions (polumerōs) and (kai) many ways (polutropōs) to the (tois) fathers (patrasin), [having spoken, RE] in (en) the (tois) prophets (prophētais),

Heb. 1:2 over (ep) last (eschaton) of the (tōn) days (hēmerōn) of these (toutōn) [the God, v1, RE] spoke (elalēsen) to us (hēmin) in (en) [a] son (huiō), whom (hon) was put in place (ethēke) [to be] [an] heir (klēronomon) of all things (pantōn);

through (di) whom (hou) [the God, v1, RE] made (epoiēsen) the (tous) ages (aiōnas) also (kai):

"having spoken many portions" - Polumeros is a compound of polus, meaning many, and meros, meaning  a part or an allotment. The mind of God, his knowledge and his wisdom, came to mortalkind in many parts or portions, in stages of progressive unveiling, as he chose to reveal it to his prophets. Both "sundry times" in the KJV and "many times" in the NIV are careless paraphrasing errors in translation. The emphasis in God’s Word here is not upon the time when those revelations came, but upon how they came, and the size of portion of those revelations.  The son of God coming in the flesh is the largest portion of revelation God ever gave about himself.  Not only did the doctrine/orthodoxy which Jesus Christ preached become the substance of the entire new covenant writings, but it shed light upon the understanding of a huge portion of the old covenant writings as well, which without that light would have remained as unfulfilled prophetic mysteries.   

"many ways" - Oftentimes God communicated through dreams, to both unbelievers and believers.  Sometimes God spoke in visions, as he did with Abram in Gen. 15:1.  At many times God sent messengers which sometimes appeared in mortal form, as in Gen. 18:1-.  When God called Moses to help him deliver the children of Israel out of the slavery and bondage of Egypt, God sent a messenger which appeared in a flame of fire in a bush which did not burn, as recorded in Exod. 3:1-17.  In Luke 3:22, when God spoke, it was in an audible voice coming out of heaven, along with the appearance of holy Spirit in a bodily shape like a dove.  God used these and many other animated ways to speak to his prophets, and his believers (pillar of fire by night, cloud by day, handwriting on the wall, movement of the branches of the mulberry trees, the agitation of the water in the pool of Siloam, etc.).

"upon the last days of these spoke to us in a son" - God's only begotten son is the latest and greatest way the Father has chosen to speak to mortalkind. God's Word records some of all that Jesus Christ said and did upon this earth before his ascension. Up until that time and continuing now still, the Father's written Word and his son Christ Jesus are the primary vehicles through which God speaks to us today. All the stages of progressive unveiling of the mind of God which came to us through apostle Paul for example, came to him by revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:12), he being the head of the body (Eph. 5:24-33). Jesus Christ as head of his spiritual body, chooses which parts of his body to energize, how he energizes them, and when he energizes them.  In these last days God speaks to his family through;

• 1) his written Word, 

• 2) his son, the Word made flesh, the head of the one body of Christ,

• 3) the body of Christ herself through the gift ministries of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers (Eph. 4:11).

"whom has been set in place" - Etheke comes from tithemi, which means not to appoint, elect, select or choose, as translators have commonly translated the word into English, BUT to set or put something in a place.  In all 96 usages, it's clear that etheke, or tithemi means to set or put something in place.  The illusion here is to Jesus filling the void in the seat at God's right, where God seated Jesus after his ascension, where Jesus now either stands or sits for us. He stands to make something happen, then sits when it's completed.  That seat, or throne of David, at God's right hand was empty for a long time.

The following verses give us further enlightenment about how mortalkind received knowledge and wisdom from God.

2 Pet. 1:20 (LIT/UBS4) we knowing (ginōskontes) this (touto) first (prōton), that (hoti) every (pasa) prophecy (prophēteia) of [a] writing (graphēs) is absolutely not caused to come to pass (ou ginetai) over one’s own letting loose (idias epiluseōs);

2 Pet. 1:21 (LIT/UBS4) because (gar) absolutely not (ou) for [a] desire (thelēmati) of [a] mortal (anthrōpou) was prophecy (prophēteia) brought (ēnechthē) in time past (pote)! 

BUT (alla), mortals (anthrōpoi) spoke (elalēsan) being brought (pheromenoi) under (hupo) [authority, AE] of holy (hagiou) Spirit (pneumatos) from (apo) God (theou)!

"we knowing this first" - (ginoskontes touto proton).  Some translations may say "Above all", which Greek would be huper panta.  BUT, holy Spirit didn't say huper panta, it said ginoskontes touto proton.  Many translators think they know better than God what he should have said.  How egotistical and self-grandiloquent is that.  Deliberately altering God's Word in translations enters into the realm of devilishness!

• Was what holy Spirit said an error?  

• Were not the exact words which holy Spirit said, not the exact words which God our Father wanted said to us?  

• In this verse, is ginoskontes touto proton God's Word, or is huper panta God's Word?  

• Or are both of them God's Word, or are neither of them God's Word?

"every prophecy of a writing" - Every prophecy written in God's Word. Not what men write and than call it "God's Word", BUT, what those mortals from God spoke, which became written down.

"comes into being absolutely not upon one's own willful releasing" - Those mortals, those prophets did not by their own will decide to invent God's Word. They served only as holy Spirit's mouth piece, to speak what they were given/told to speak. God, by way of his holy Spirit determined what, where, when, how, and to whom God's Word would be spoken.

"because absolutely not of mortal's will was set in place at any time, prophecy." - God's will determined what, where, when, how, and to whom his Word would be spoken. The will of mortalkind had nothing to do with it except to be obedient.

"under holy Spirit carrying [them] along, mortals from God spoke" - The mortals from God were obedient to speak what holy Spirit gave/told them to speak. God knew these mortal's hearts, that they would be obedient to speak exactly what his holy Spirit gave them to speak. God knew they would allow holy Spirit to work within them.

How and when God's Prophets received his Word, and exactly what holy Spirit said, was and still is entirely up to God.  However, the devil is constantly trying to change what God has said, beginning way back in the garden of Eden, by trying to get Eve to question what God said, and then supplying a lie in place of the TRUTH, "You shall not surely die…" (Gen. 3:4). It was God's will which determined what, when, and how his knowledge and wisdom would be revealed in many portions to all mortalkind. Each and every portion came by God's will only, not by the will of any mortals. God himself always chose the time, and the place, and the circumstances, and exactly what would be spoken, and by whom.

Those mortals from God were called and chosen by God, because they had believing (1 Cor. 4:2; Heb. 11:6), and obedience toward his Word (Rom. 1:5, 6:16, 16:26; 2 Cor. 10:5; Philem. 1:21; 1 Pet. 1:2). Those mortals which were prophets, said and did what holy Spirit energizing within them told them to say and do.

Here's the chain of communication of revelation from God: God gave his Word to those mortals, then those mortals of God obediently said and did what the God, who is holy, and who is Spirit, gave them to say and do.

Let me ask you a question.  If in 2 Pet. 1:20-21 it was absolutely not of mortal's will to decide what God should say, is it up to any mortal's will now to decide what God should have said?  Is it up to the will of mortals to criticize God and accuse God of getting it wrong as if they know better than God?  Is it up to the will of any mortal now to presume God got something wrong, and then to presume they know better than God what God should have said, and now say it for God, in spite of what God has said, and then claim it is what God meant to say, or should have said? 

This is the arrogant attitude of the devil in Gen. 3.  I say to you that any mortal now who believes and says he or she knows better than God what God meant to say, or should have said, is of the devil.  God says exactly what he means, and he means exactly what he says.  What God says is perfect, because God is perfect. The only supposed error in God's Word is not within God's Word, but within those evil mortal's own imaginations, from their own desire not to believe and do God's Word.

This method of operation of the Father's holy Spirit interacting with mortals, does not and has not changed over time.  Under the new covenant in Jesus Christ's blood, the specific condition of believing upon the name of Jesus to receive holy Spirit's permanent occupancy within a mortal, has become known with the unveiling of the Great Mystery (Acts 4:10-12).  But, temporary occupancy of holy Spirit within a mortal was available under the old covenant, which was based upon the extent of a mortal's believing toward Jehovah, upon his names (Psalm 99:6) and his Word.

II.  The Purpose of God's Word

The purpose of God's Word which he sent to us is to inform us of him, and of the preparations he has made, and is making, to bless and care for us, his creation.

This section on The Purpose of God's Word serves as a preparation for, and an introduction to, the following section on The Profit of God's Word.  This section briefly begins to show how God has prepared to bless his people, both under the old covenant - the Law of Works, and before then during the period of Melchezedek, and under the new covenant - the Law of Belief (Rom. 3:27, 10:17; Heb 11:1, 6).  The prophets present the God to us as , 1) preparing to bless his people, and then, 2) blessing his people through those preparations that he has made.  Through looking closely at God's preparations we can get insight into how the God sets up and choreographs things to come to pass for mortalkind down the line at different points in time, and an idea of how great and wonderful those blessing are going to be to mortalkind when they come to pass, given mortalkind's cooperation, which is to believe, ask and thank him.

For example: The God putting covenants in place are major preparations of him to bless mortalkind, to bless all those who choose to take part in those covenants.  Participation in a covenant, based on following the rules and guidelines for participation in it, are prerequisite to receiving any blessing from God through a covenant.

Much of the knowledge of God's preparations to bless mortalkind, and to care for his entire creation, are presented to us by the prophets using types of things God created in the physical realm.  For example, in both the old and new covenant writings some of the popular types used by the prophets are trees, bushes, fruit, branches, roots, and so on (Judges 9:8-15; Psalm 1:3; Jer. 17:8; Mat. 3:10, 7:17-19, 12:33, 13:6, 21, 21:19-21; Rom. 11:16-24, 15:12; James 3:12; Rev. 2:7, 5:5, 22:2, 14, 16), which are used typically to represent people, believers, and how those believers can interact with the God through his covenants to receive into their lives the blessings which he has prepared for them to receive.  

In the following passages we can see some important verses in God's Word describing his preparations for our blessing, his blessing to all those who believe and take part in his covenants.  The greatest preparation God has made to bless and care for his creation is his Word, which became flesh and tented among us.

• Jesus figuratively refers to a tree as a mortal, and the works of a mortal as his or her fruit (Mat. 7:17-19, 12:30-33; Luke 6:43-44; James 3:12).

• In Exod. 15:25 a tree is used figuratively as a life-giving type of Jesus, which turned the waters of death, sweet.   

• In Exod. 25:10 (see also Deut. 10) the ark of the Covenant of Jehovah, made of shittim wood is a type of Jesus as the head of his one body, the true "tent" the God has built with his own hand.  

• In Exod. 25:13 the two staves made of shittim wood which were used to carry the ark of the covenant with the mercy seat, among the people, were types of Jesus two responsibilities, 1) to lift up (nasa) our sicknesses, and 2) to carry (cabal) our pains (i.e., the penalty for mortalkind's sin) in Isa. 53:4.  

• In Exod. 25:17 the mercy seat which was made of shittim wood, which was situated above and upon the ark of the covenant, which was the place about which God said, "There I will meet with thee and commune with thee from above the mercy seat" (Exod. 25:22), is a type of Jesus himself, "whom the God planned before to be a reconciler through the belief in the blood of him" (Rom. 3:25, 1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 8:1-6, 9:11-15, 12:22-24).  

The wood and specifically how it is used throughout all of the tabernacle, is used as types to the particular facets of God's purpose for Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.  

In Gen. 6:14, the ark made of gopher wood was a type of Jesus as "the beginner of the wholeness of them" (Heb. 2:10), bringing the believers, Noah and his family and specimens of all living things upon the earth, safely through the flooding waters of death.  In 1 Kings 6:31-33, the door posts of the entrance of the temple, and the door posts and doors into the oracle, the holy of holies, was made of olive wood, a type of Jesus Christ.  In John 10 Jesus is "The Door".  In John 14:6 no mortal may come toward the Father if not through him (John 14:6).  

In several places in the old covenant writings, the prophesied coming messiah is referred to as a "Branch (tsemach)" (Strong's # 6780), literally a young, tender sprout coming forth (Isa. 4:2; Jer. 23:5, 33:15; Zech. 3:8, 6:12).  

In Jeremiah, who is referenced as a type to Christ in at least fourteen references within his scroll, is referenced as a lamb or an ox that is brought to the slaughter, a "tree with the fruit thereof... to be cut off" (Jer. 11:19).  Here in type, the coming redeemer is referred to as a "Tree".  The messiah is referred to again as a "Tree", and all mortalkind are referred to as "trees" in Ezekiel's prophecy (Ezek. 17:22-24).  Here we see the "sprout (tsemach)" has grown into a mighty "Tree".

• In Prov. 3:18 the wisdom and understanding of God's Word is called a "Tree of Life".  

• In Prov. 11:30 the fruit of the righteous is a "Tree of Life".  

• In Prov. 13:12, in the context of hope, the thing desired or hoped for is a "Tree of Life".  

• In 1 Cor. 1:30 Jesus "has become to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption", the things for which we hope! 

• In Prov. 15:4 a healed tongue is a "Tree of Life".  

Jesus Christ is the wisdom and understanding of God the heavenly Father. Jesus Christ is not only the fruit of God's righteousness, he was made to become our righteousness for us! Jesus Christ was in the beginning, and still is now, the thing hoped for. The false believers said and did those things which they saw of their father, the devil. They sought to kill Jesus, and they were liars (John 8:44). Jesus tongue was whole, while their tongue was corrupted. Jesus spoke only those things which he saw beside his Father, the Truth. See Isa. 53:9 also (there was no deceit in his mouth). This identifies Jesus Christ as the physical embodiment of the Tree Of Life, who was, is, and is to come!

In the beginning, in the garden, two trees were set before Adam; the Tree of Life in the middle of the garden, and the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:9).  Essentially, these two trees are now standing before mortalkind today, God's Word (Christ Jesus) - the Tree of Life, and Satan's Word - the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; the fruits of which each mortal must decide which to eat.  

The opportunity Adam had to "eat" of the Tree of Life, all mortalkind has now at this present time.  Will they eat Truth unto eternal life, or will they eat lies unto destruction and death?  The knowledge of "good and evil" was offered to Eve as recorded in Gen. 3:4-5, which was a lie, when the devil said, "You shall not surely die"!  The fruit of the Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil is something like rat poison, which is made up of about 99% corn meal, which is good for rats.  But the 1% of strychnine causes their death.  In Rev. 22:2,14, in the new Jerusalem, Christ Jesus is the "Tree of Life".

John 10:10a (LIT/UBS4) The (ho) thief (kleptēs) absolutely does not cause himself to come (ouk erchetai) if (ei) not (mē) in order that (hina) he may steal (klepsē), and (kai) he may sacrifice (thusē), and (kai) he may destroy (apolesē) [the sheep, v8, RE]!

The first recorded action of the Thief, Satan, the devil, is as a serpent in Gen. 3:1-24, stealthily slithering in to steal the opportunity for immortality from the first mortal, Adam, thus condemning him and all his posterity to death.  Adam could have ate from the Tree of Life at any time up until when he sinned against God, it was not put out of bounds (Gen. 2:16-17).  See John 8:44, as father of lies.

John 10:10b (LIT/UBS4) I (egō) came (ēlthon) in order that (hina) they may hold (echōsi) life (zōēn), and (kai) they may hold (echōsin) [life, RE] around abundantly (perisson)!

In the Greek, the very emphatic conjunction BUT (alla), is virtually always used in a dramatic juxtaposition such as this, comparing the subjects of the giving of Truth, Life and Immortality versus the stealing away of it resulting in death.  But since it is so conspicuously missing here in John 10:10b, "BUT (alla), I came in order that...", I consider this omission of the word as a figure of speech of absolute Ellipsis, because it should be supplied from the nature of the extreme contrast between the dual subjects.  The presence of this figure of speech helps flag this statement of Jesus' purpose, as one of, if not the most important axiom and Truth in God's entire Word! 

The thief refers to the devil, Satan, and his devil spirit realm.  Their main purpose is to steal from, sacrifice and destroy mortals, especially believing ones, because the devil and his demon spirits hate God and his son Jesus Christ, and followers everywhere of Christ Jesus.  The next time something bad happens to us, let's not blame God and his son Jesus Christ for what Satan and his devil spirits try to do to us. If we want to learn how to get God's hand of protection over us and our families, then we need to start learning about either entering into, or actively participating in our covenant relationship with him through his son Jesus Christ, and learn our covenant responsibilities. There are covenant responsibilities we must keep, that trigger and set into motion the Father keeping his covenant responsibilities back to us. Mortals must enter into this covenant relationship with the Father, otherwise they have no right to expect anything from him.  You enter into this covenant relationship, made available through Jesus' shed blood, through receiving the new birth above, baptism in the God's gift of his paternal holy Spirit, which is part of Christ Jesus' inheritance which he shares with you, as a reward for your belief in his heavenly Father, the God, and him.

• How many of us are consciously aware and understand that we are in a covenant, a binding contractual relationship promising multiple blessings now, and immortality in the future, with the God,  which covenant was signed, sealed, and delivered to us in Jesus' own shed blood?

The second part of John 10:10 says that Jesus Christ came that "they", you and I, the believers who believe in who he is and what he did, may hold life and hold it beyond whatever the devil may do to us, just the opposite of what Satan and his devil spirits want for us.  If Jesus Christ came that we could have life abundantly, and Jesus always did the Fathers will (John 4:34, 5:30, 6:38), and he always went about healing and delivering those believers who were sick and oppressed, and to give us eternal life, then it must be the Father's will for us to have an abundant life, both now and in the future!!!

"the Father... may draw him" - From an older form of the word helkō, to drag like a net (i.e., dragnet). 

Jesus Christ says that the Father, his Father, the one true God almighty, draws believers to his son, Christ Jesus!  Yes, the text says that the God is using a dragnet looking for the ones who believe in the name of his son, Christ Jesus, so he can draw them to his son, and then deliver them, and then bless the socks off of them!  I've never heard anyone teach that.  God has put out a dragnet to draw all those who believe to his son Jesus.  It is written:

Rom. 2:4 (LIT/UBS4) "...you being ignorant (agnoōn) that (hoti) the (to) benevolent thing (chrēston) of the (tou) God (theou) leads (agei) you (se) into (eis) repentance (metanoian)?" 

"And they shall cause themselves to be all ones taught of God" - All who?  All the ones the Father draws to his son Jesus Christ, shall All be ones taught of God.  Of who?  Did it say of seminary school?  Did it say of Chicago Divinity School?  Did it say of the Vatican?  Who does Christ Jesus say is going to teach all of the ones the Father draws to him?  Jesus said his Father himself is going to teach them!  The God is going to teach them!  Did I hear some professor taking credit for teaching them?

What makes God's Word come together in a mortal's head is God's Spirit working in them, and don't you forget it!  Without the Spirit of God mortals can't learn anything spiritual about God and his creation.  Nothing!  A mortal with God's Spirit energizing in him can learn everything about his heavenly Father, the God, professor or no professor, divinity school or no divinity school, it doesn't matter.  Apostle John quotes Christ Jesus as saying that the God is going to teach them, all of them.  And God taught John, his Spirit working in and through John, and in and through anyone whom he is teaching.

God is Spirit (John 4:24).  And there is only one Spirit, which can only be God himself (1 Cor. 6:17, 12:11, 13; Eph. 2:18, 4:4; Phil. 1:27; Heb. 2:11).  This is why the title "Spirit of truth" is simply a reference to God with his "teaching hat" on (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13; 1 John 4:6, 5:6).  This is only one reason why the 4th century mortal-made invention of a person called "the Holy Spirit" of a three-headed godhead is in error.  Those inventors of that third person, and modern adherents of that theological ball of confusion, all ignore all of the scriptural passages of apostle Paul's teaching of there being only one Spirit, and the one Spirit is God almighty himself.  The one Spirit who is the one God, is the Father, according to more than sufficient scriptural evidence which anyone can read and believe for himself, if he wishes to become pleasing in God's eyes (Mat. 23:09; Mark 2:7, 10:18, 12:29, 32; Luke 18:19; John 8:41; 1 Cor. 8:4, 6; Rom. 3:30; Gal. 3:20; Eph. 4:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; James 2:19).

The ability of believers to have "ears to hear" and to learn, comes from the Father.  He is the ultimate source of all holy spiritual things.  When Jesus sat by the sea and taught in parables, his disciples later asked him, "Why in parables do you speak to them?"  They were concerned about why Jesus was deliberately making it difficult for some other mortals who were present, to understand his meaning.  Jesus' answer was;

Apparently, the teaching of Jesus' disciples by God working in and through his agent, Jesus, in the context of Mat. 13:11, was not for all who heard Jesus speaking, but it was enough for Jesus' disciples to put it together and understand it!  What this means is that the heavenly Father, working in and through Jesus, deliberately chose not to openly explain "the mysteries of the Kingdom of the Heavens" to the unbelievers who were present.  Because, what is not given, and by whom?  Jesus' complete answer is in the parable of the sower in Mat. 13.  But, this again illustrates the doctrine of Jesus Christ, that mortals who have not been given "ears to hear" and "eyes to see" from alongside the Father, cannot understand and learn (manthanō) spiritual things, and they therefore will not come toward Jesus Christ.  The God chose not to give spiritual understanding to those unbelievers present whose hearts were not repentant, and so therefore they did not have "ears to hear" and "eyes to see", i.e. God could not work in them to enlighten them.  If Jesus (God working in and through him) would have openly spoke it plainly, some unbelievers present would have considered what he said as even more foolish, and it would have cast Jesus and his disciples into an unnecessary role of greater foolishness in the eyes of the unbelievers.  Those disciples with God's Spirit energizing IN them to enlighten them either immediately or eventually understood and learned what God taught them working IN and THROUGH his agent, Jesus Christ.

"to know" - Jesus' disciples were to know (gnōnai) the mysteries of the Kingdom of the Heavens through participation and practical application of that knowledge.

Notice that Jesus teaches that the Kingdom contains heavens (ouranon), plural!  That's correct translation.  Apparently the translators of the Authorized Version (AV), New International Version (NIV), and Revised Standard Version (RSV) and a ton of other translations (i.e., their translators) couldn't read Greek well enough to determine whether the source language word was in the singular or plural!  That ought to cause alarms to go off in your head!  

Ask yourself these questions; If the translators are willing to deliberately forge the English translations on a theological/doctrinal issue about "heaven" or "heavens", then...: 

• On what other doctrinal issues are they forging the translations?  

• How often does this happen?  

• What are those other doctrinal issues?  

• May denominationalism have something to do with it?

• May the adversary, the devil have something to do with it, who was thrown out of those heavens? 

Jesus didn't think the subject of the (ton) heavens (ouranon) plural, was too difficult of a subject for his disciples.  After all, the Father gave them "ears to hear" and "eyes to see" which to some extent must remove difficulty in understanding spiritual things, don't you think?

The main purpose of God's Word is for you and I to understand and learn spiritual things, and to become knowledgeable of how to obtain wholeness from the penalty of sin which is sickness and death, and for us to understand and believe in the loving mind and heart of the God.  Satan and his demon spirit realm DO NOT want us to know about this.  This is the most valuable prize that Satan and his devil spirit realm can steal from us!  If Satan would have understood that the staking, death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ would have made available the pouring out of the God's gift of his paternal holy Spirit into believing mortalkind starting on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-41), Satan NEVER would have allowed Jesus Christ to have been killed (1 Cor. 2:8).  This is why the Father had it kept a secret, the Great Mystery! 

What was the purpose of the OT Law?  It was to teach Israel believing, which belief would have imparted to them a measure of righteous (Rom. 4:1-)!

This knowledge leads to the second most valuable prize Satan and his devil spirit realm tries to steal from us, which is our physical life now here on earth.  If he can't kill you, he will do all he can to destroy your life to make you constantly miserable, to try and stop you from receiving teaching from the Spirit of Truth.  The devil, through the use of unclean demon spirits, will try to make you so sick and unhealthy that your time and energy will be all wrapped up in dealing with those circumstances.  He'll have you all wrapped up and distracted away from God and his Word through you trying to save yourself as he is destroying you!  Once he has got you to this point in your life, you've just about had it.  But it's never too late to pray and repent to God in your heart from your sin, True repentance requires the cessation from sin.  Whatever it is, stop doing it, and God will come and rescue you! 

The first two most important purposes for God sending his Word to us, are the two most important things Satan tries to steal from us:

1) eternal life with the Father as his children, 

2) an abundant life now.  

Jesus Christ sums this up in John 10:10:

III.  The Profit Of God's Word

"profitable" - Sometimes we come to God as the last thing we try, when all other attempts to fix our life and make our life worth living have failed.  If we're searching for answers in our life, if we need healing, mental or physical, if we need to be loved, if we need peace and joy back in our life, all these things are available.  We may be at the point in our lives sometimes where each day is a life or death struggle for survival. God can and will deliver us, because his God-blown scripture is profitable.

"teaching" - instruction in God's ways, spiritual ways, in the way of Jesus Christ.

"reproof" - to open God's Word and point out with the finger those Truths which he has spoken, to prove what is wrong from right.

"straightening up" - to set back upright again, in proper position or proper state to function righteously.

Which all is…

"child-training" - The knowledge of God's God-blown Word in our minds trains us as God's children. God's Word is sharper over every double-mouthed knife… it cuts all the BS out of our heads, and gives us a sort of spiritual lobotomy, so we can think through things better, have a sounder mind (2 Tim. 1:7), a mind that can make right decisions which will profit us and those around us. Let's look at Heb. 4:12 a moment, which is another verse alluding to medical/health care practices as was Mat. 4:4;

This written Word in 2 Pet. 1:3 is another huge declaration of the profit of God's Word. The profit of God's Word is stated so many different ways in God's Word, how can we miss it. God has made a gift to us of all things which are toward life and Godliness. This is part of the profit of God's Word. Now how do we receive it from God? We receive this profit from God through gaining the experiential knowledge of the one having called us to his own glory and superiority. We receive this profit through our piety toward God's Word. Jesus Christ made known the Father. Therefore, gaining experiential knowledge about Jesus Christ will give us experiential knowledge about God our Father, who is the one having called us to his own glory and superiority.

"superiority" - This is not in the sense of supposed genetic superiority of one race over another, which is the board game the devil has set up to steal, kill and destroy mortalkind, but this eclipses the physical realm entirely, comparing it to the spiritual realm in the sense that the Spirit, the divine inherent power of God is superior to the ability of the flesh, or fleshly bodily exercise of any kind upon this earth. This divine inherent power of the Spirit is part of the profit of God's Word of which we've been gifted. Taking up our "cross" of responsibility (Luke 9:23; 14:27) and following after Jesus Christ was never meant to be only a social mores as modern "Christianity" has become for so many so-called "Christians".

Jesus said:

Through (di) me (emou), if perhaps (ean) anyone (tis) may enter in (eiselthē), he shall be kept whole (sōthēsetai). 

And (kai) he shall cause himself to enter in (eiseleusetai), and (kai) he shall cause himself to come out (exeleusetai), and (kai) he shall find (heurēsei) a pasture (nomēn).

"I came in order that they may hold life, and they may hold [life, RE] around abundantly!" - I don't believe that the profit of God's Word can be summed up and stated any better than how Jesus Christ says it here.  If Jesus always did his Father's will, then it must be the God's will, our heavenly Father's, will for us to hold life in us abundantly beyond the attacks and effects of the devil, the "thief"!  Jesus says this is why he came.

Summary of the Profit Of God's Word:

Review the points in: 

• 2 Tim. 3:16-17 

• Heb. 4:12 

• 1 Tim. 4:8 

• 2 Peter 1:3 

• John 10:10

I believe this serves as a good summary of HOW we received God's Word, the PURPOSE of God's Word and the PROFIT of God's Word.  During our lifetime, as our outward mortal perishes, we have the privilege to renew the inward "man" day by day (2 Cor. 4:16; oh, more profit!) with God's Word which holy mortals of God spoke under holy Spirit carrying [them] along, to become more completely "jointed out" unto all good works!

Brother Hal Dekker